§ MR. MACVEAGHI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the Joint Committee of Lords and Commons on Municipal Trading laid down that the Local Government Departments should consult the Institute of Chartered Accountants or the Incorporated Society of Accountants and Auditors before prescribing a standard form of keeping accounts for local authorities; and whether any such conference or consultation took place prior to the issue of the Public Bodies Order, 1904, for Ireland.
§ MR. WALTER LONGThis recommendation of the Committee had special reference to the question of municipal trading, and was not extended by them to the case of Ireland, where such trading has made little headway. The Answer to the latter inquiry is in the negative. Local authorities in Ireland, before embarking on any large scheme of municipal trading, will be required to submit their accounts in such matters in a form which will meet the Committee's recommendations on the subject.
§ MR. MACVEAGHsaid that, as a matter of fact, the local authorities had themselves to do certain work because the auditors were not competent.